Accela Launches Civic Cloud Enabling Government Agencies Of All Sizes To Provide Civic Services That Actively Engage Businesses And Citizens

SAN RAMON, Calif. – April 23, 2013 – Accela, Inc., the leading provider of civic engagement solutions for government agencies, today announced availability of the Civic Cloud, enabling government agencies both large and small to automate and streamline core civic processes and extend them directly to businesses and citizens in their communities. Through the Civic Cloud, agencies can quickly and easily provide access to business services and deploy civic engagement applications on leading mobile devices.

Agencies leveraging the power of the Civic Cloud are able to automate and streamline vital civic functions such as land management, licensing, asset management and public health and safety. With subscription-based licensing, support for both tailored and packaged solutions, and apps to engage citizens, agency professionals and entire communities, agencies can reduce costs, support rapid economic growth and foster productive civic interactions.

"From the federal government to local municipalities, the emphasis is on reducing costs without sacrificing essential services," said Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor of California. "Agencies that leverage open data and technology to keep up with constituent demands are turning their departments into models of efficiency and providing greater levels of service to their citizens. Accela’s Civic Cloud is allowing this type of change to take place and is definitely a platform to model."

“Government agencies are taking a cue from the private sector and recognizing the power of the cloud to streamline processes and connect with their citizens,” said Maury Blackman, CEO of Accela, Inc. “The Civic Cloud allows government agencies of all sizes to streamline mission-critical civic functions and improve accuracy while reducing costs. This means greater opportunity for economic growth and civic engagement, which are fundamental to successful governing."

Tailored and Packaged Solutions

Accela offers a complete suite of business services through the Civic Cloud. Specific civic solutions can be tailored to unique agency requirements by Accela or partner professional services staff, or they can be purchased and quickly deployed as packaged quick-start solutions. With low per user per month pricing, agencies can deploy a complete set of capabilities to streamline and manage core processes and improve services for their community.

Packaged Solutions are pre-configured to the most common agency needs, and are based on best practices, packaged content, and packaged quick-start services. These solutions can be deployed in weeks, and they bring capabilities to thousands of smaller agencies that were previously only feasible for larger agencies to deploy. Initial packaged solutions are immediately available for Planning and Zoning, Permitting, and Inspection, and additional packages are being developed based on agency and market requirements.

Accela Civic Platform Enables Robust Partner and Developer Ecosystem

The Civic Platform provides the capabilities that Accela, the developer community, and the company's partners need to build, configure, deploy and manage civic applications and solutions. Accela Automation is the heart of the Civic Platform, and it is surrounded by a complete set of platform services that address development and customer lifecycles.